Greetings and my first question

[DanKearney]

Greetings All,

 

My name is Dan and I am engaged to a most wonderful woman who happens to live in China. Her name is Yuan and she lives in Guangzhou. I was pointed to this web site by someone on the Visa Journey web board.

 

My lady and I would like to get married as soon as possible. Previously, I visited my local USCIS office in Denver, Colorado and they told me tht the K3 process takes much longer than the K1 process. Hence, we decided to go the K1 route so that we could be back together as soon as possible.

 

Recently, I've gotten conflicting opinions on which process is quicker. Does anyone here have an opinion? Or better yet, actual experience. I'm going back to China again at the end of this month. If I can determine that the K3 process really is not slower, or is at least on par time-wise with the K1 process, I'd just as soon get married when I get there in a few weeks rather than waiting for her to join me here in the U.S.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan K.

Black Hawk, Colorado

 

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-12/1119750/DSCN0182(Small).JPG

[Trigg]

I think the consesus is that the K1 is 3-5 months faster than the K3.

 

and welcome the the Candle!!!!

 

Trigg

[tonado]

Welcome Dan to CFL,

 

K1 is faster.

 

http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/stats.php

[LeeFisher3]

Dan,

 

The K-3 visa is dependent on filing an I-130 for a Family Visa and the initial approval. The hold up is that some have gotten delayed in this initial process for more than 6 months and you can not file for the K-3 until the first approval is complete.

 

With the K-1 the process seems to run much quicker as the initial apporval is not as detailed as for the Spouse Visa.

 

Currently Nebraska, where you would file is running about 3 month backlog on K-1 and 6 month on the I-130 for a spouse.

 

A general rule of thumb is that a K-1 will take from 6-12 months and the Spouse Visa with K-3 added will go from 12-18 months.

 

If you do the K-1 visa you would need to wait until she arrives in the US to have a LEGAL wedding, this can be a problem with some families. An option is to have a ceremonial wedding in China and a legal wedding in the US.

 

If all goes well with filing an I-130 followed by a K-3, the K-3 will get you a head start on the wait time in GZ and the I-130 will arrive before the interview date and takes it's place in line. The big advantage is your SO would arrive and receive her green card in only a matter of weeks. With the K-1 you file for Adjustment of Status after you are married which can take up to 2 years to complete depending on the local office. We have recently seen the Adjustment of status complete in 90 days, but this is not the normal time frame for it.

 

You can see by my timeline how things went going through Nebraska, but it seems the delay between the P-3 date and interview is much less now so it is very possible the K-1 could be complete with the two of you together in 6 months, but that is if nothing hinders the process.

 

Good luck and welcome to CFL.

[Guest Paul]

Greetings All,

 

My name is Dan and I am engaged to a most wonderful woman who happens to live in China.  Her name is Yuan and she lives in Guangzhou.  I was pointed to this web site by someone on the Visa Journey web board. 

 

My lady and I would like to get married as soon as possible.  Previously, I visited my local USCIS office in Denver, Colorado and they told me tht the K3 process takes much longer than the K1 process.  Hence, we decided to go the K1 route so that we could be back together as soon as possible.

 

Recently, I've gotten conflicting opinions on which process is quicker.  Does anyone here have an opinion?  Or better yet, actual experience.  I'm going back to China again at the end of this month.  If I can determine that the K3 process really is not slower, or is at least on par time-wise with the K1 process, I'd just as soon get married when I get there in a few weeks rather than waiting for her to join me here in the U.S.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan K.

Black Hawk, Colorado

 

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-12/1119750/DSCN0182(Small).JPG

179540[/snapback]

Welcome, kinda new here ourselves but welcome anyway - Happy New Year, Paul

[ed and ying]

Dan

Welcome to CFL, like Lee I was K-1 thru Nebraska, it was 9 months and a day from filing the I-129F to arrival in the US. Best wishes, here at CFL is a wealth of experience and some amusement to help pass the time.

 

Ed and Ying

Edited January 2, 2006 by ed and ying (see edit history)

[mercator]

follow your heart... I knew K-1 was faster, but my wife and her family would rather have seen me come back a second time and marry her than to send her to the USA as a fiancee. I wanted to marry her too, so we married and I went K-3. My 130 is in limbo (just NOA-1 no sign of NOA2 probably for 3 more months). My 129F is moving along nicely, and frankly I think the only time differences seen are the NOA1 delay at whatever service center, which is when you can file the 129F and be on virtually the same track as the K-1's.

 

I filed my 130 @ Nebraska as well, which then migrated to California.

 

Maybe I will be a couple months longer than a K1 with our K3, but I have a happy wife and in-laws, not to mention a pretty happy groom here in the states.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Welcome to Candle..... :candle:

[tonado]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?pg=compare

 

K1 VS K3

[Dan R]

Like all of them said. So whichever you do pull up a chair and settle in. Read the posts and join in anytime you like. Welcome to CFL for the duration, the official waiting room of GUZ. You fell in love with a Chinese woman so now you are stuck with us. We aren't a bad lot to be stuck with and we will rightly or not answer any questions you have on the meaning of life.

 

Welcome!

[frank1538]

Welcome aboard the slow boat to China. K-1 appears to be a tad faster than the K-3. The choice is yours to make, but to go K-3 requires a trip to China to get married, the filing of the I-130 for the immigrant visa, and then the filing of the I-129F for the K-3. The K-1 only requiries that you two have met which I think is obvious from your picture and the filing of the I-129F.

[pkfops]

Looks like Lijiang.

 

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/113731/

[tywy_99]

Our K3 took 10 months.

It was are AOS that took so @#$% long!-20mos.

 

Should you decide to marry in China, once back in the states, file the I-130, wait 7-10 days for the receipt notice then file the I-129F for the K3.

 

Should you decide on the fiancee visa K1, then once back in the states file the I-129F. The only disadvantage their is that you will have to include a lot of evidence, ie., pictures, letters, phone records, etc., that you two have met and the relationship is genuine where it isn't needed for the K3 filing.

 

6 of one; half a dozen of the other. You two decide.

[Randy W]

The K-1 and K-3 applications are the same, so they theoretically should take the same amount of time. But K-3's are often singled out for extra scrutiny, which is why they take longer on average.

Edited January 2, 2006 by Randy W (see edit history)

[tywy_99]

Theoretically, filling out the I-129F should take less time for a K3 than for a K1 because several items are omitted when using the petition for K3.

The I-129F was designed for the fiancee visa. It is only a substitute form for K3's.

 

Thanks for pointing that out~!